San Rafael Heritage, a historic preservation group, rallies in front of the downtown San Rafael Library to support its future. City officials said there are no plans to close or raze the building. - Alan Dep — Marin Independent Journal

Although the preliminary report has not yet been released, it does not include any option for closing, razing or replacing the much-loved main downtown Carnegie library building at 1100 E St., said Henry Bankhead, assistant library director.

“The San Rafael Carnegie library is a valued part of library services in the city of San Rafael,” Bankhead said in an email Wednesday. “There are no plans to demolish the existing Carnegie building and build something else in its place.”

Bankhead made his remarks in the wake of a demonstration Friday by San Rafael Heritage, a grassroots group formed in 2015 to support historic building preservation.

San Rafael Heritage president Cynthia Landecker said Friday’s rally was not about “a specific threat” to the existence of the Carnegie library building, but that there was some general concern about the building’s future.

“If the present Mission street (at E Street) site of the library is chosen for a new facility, our historic building could be in danger,” Landecker said. “We think we speak for the community in saying this beloved building needs to be preserved.”

Friday’s demonstration was the kickoff of San Rafael Heritage’s “This Place Matters” series of monthly such rallies to “celebrate our old buildings and also educate the public about their valuable but fragile presence in our community,” Landecker said.

The attention to the Carnegie library comes as library facilities plan project architect Chris Noll is expected to share preliminary results of his report May 31 with city officials and library staff, members of the library board of trustees, Friends of the Library and the San Rafael Library Foundation.

After that, officials are expected to launch multiple public meetings at each library site, focus groups and a survey, Bankhead said.

According to Bankhead, the Noll & Tam facilities plan will include options for expanding the Pickleweed branch in the Canal neighborhood and three suggestions for facilities in north San Rafael.

The plan also includes three options for the downtown library — one of which is to “renovate and restore the existing Carnegie facility to reflect its original glory, while remediating later additions to create a larger and more functional library facility,” Bankhead said.

The other two options for downtown are different sites, but neither involves destroying the existing Carnegie building, Bankhead said.

“We respect and honor the efforts of San Rafael Heritage to preserve this valued, beloved and iconic building,” Bankhead said.

Landecker, who said the Carnegie library “has served as a cultural icon since 1909,” said the San Rafael downtown “does need a more modern facility to meet 21st century needs,” but not at the expense of historic structures.

Brad Sears, a San Rafael resident who participated in Friday’s rally, said he would like to see more openness about the whole process of facilities planning.

“Residents voted for the Measure C library parcel tax in 2010 and we re-upped it in 2017,” he said. “People want to maintain and fund the libraries.”

Bankhead said the Noll & Tam firm has “significant” experience in restoring and building additions to Carnegie buildings — including two projects in Oakland, one in Alameda and another planned in Dixon.

“Our new library planning process with Noll & Tam architects is an effort to envision and assess the cost of improving our library facilities citywide,” he added. “The thrust of the study is to have a lot of ideas, and to have people respond.”

Bankhead said officials are hoping to complete the outreach process by later this year and then make a decision to move forward with new construction or renovations, possibly by the end of the year.